Rajya Sabha members demand Bharat Ratna for Dhyan Chand

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha members across party lines today demanded that hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand be conferred with Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour.

During Zero Hour, Chandrapal Singh Yadav (SP) raised the issue of the ace hockey player being denied the highest civilian honour despite several countries and personalities, including Adolf Hitler, praising him for his expertise with the stick.

Dhyan Chand had won three Olympic gold medals in hockey for India between 1928 and 1936. "Major Dhyan Chand received awards and accolades across the world including from Adolf Hitler and the British government. But in our country, he has still not been appreciated as he should have been for making India a world power in hockey," Yadav said.

He said even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat, had called for conferring Bharat Ratna on Dhyan Chand.

Yadav's concerns were supported by members across party lines and even by Deputy Chairman P J Kurien.

"It has the full support of the House," Kurien said. In March this year, Dilip Tirkey (BJD), former Indian hockey player, had raised the issue of discrimination against Indian sports like kabaddi and hockey and reminded that Dhyan Chand has not been given the Bharat Ratna.